Rate Hikes for Florida Citizens’ ‘High Risk’ Properties Approved

Florida Insurance Commissioner Kevin McCarty has approved rates hikes for about 330,000 of Citizens Property Insurance Corp.’s so-called high-risk coastal property accounts. The statewide average increases include a hike of 5.2 percent for more than 250,000 coastal homeowners, 11 percent for about 15,000 mobile homes and 9.4 percent for condo associations.

The final rates are similar to the rates requested by the state-backed Citizens in its efforts to restore actuarial soundness to its pricing after a legislatively-imposed rate freeze of several years. The following are the approved statewide average high-risk account rate increases included: Homeowners: 5.2 percent; Dwelling Fire: 4.0 percent; Mobile Homeowners: 11.0 percent; Commercial Property – Nonresidential: 9.3 percent; Commercial Property Residential – Excluding Condo Associations: 9.4 percent and Commercial Property Residential – Condo Associations: 9.4 percent.

In October, state regulators approved an average 5.4 percent rate hike in 2010 for homeowners but that did not include HRAs. Also, rates for non-HRA dwelling fire policies will go up 8.8 percent and for mobile homes, 1.7 percent. Rates for condominiums will go up 10.2 percent.

Private insurers and businesses had urged that Citizens raise rates above 10 percent, which they argued was permitted under the law. But McCarty said that the Legislature effectively capped Citizens’ annual rate increases at 10 percent, except that the mobile homes show a higher increase because the law allows companies to pass on a cash build-up factor paid to the Florida Hurricane Catastrophe Fund to policyholders, which is not subject to the 10 percent limit.

Topics Florida Pricing Trends Homeowners Property